Although he underwent shoulder surgery, the value of FA Kim Ha-sung (29) did not fall. Although the market has just opened, competition for recruitment seems to have flared up behind the scenes.
The Major League’s official website “MLB.com ” expressed market interest in Kim Ha-sung under the title of “The undervalued infielder is causing a lot of buzz at the general manager’s meeting” on the 7th (Korea Standard Time).
MLB.com said, “According to sources, Kim Ha-sung is already generating a lot of interest in the early days of the FA. San Francisco is focusing on signing Kim Ha-sung. The Milwaukee Brewers are also connected, but San Francisco is the club that shows the most interest in Kim Ha-sung.”
Canada’s “SportsNet” also reported that the Toronto Blue Jays are showing some interest in Kim Ha-sung and Gleyber Torres as infield options. San Francisco, Milwaukee and Toronto were the teams that showed interest in the San Diego Padres, which also left open the possibility of reuniting with Kim Ha-sung.
The most likely team among them is San Francisco. Buster Posey, the new president of baseball operations, met with reporters at the Major League Baseball general managerial meeting held in San Antonio, Texas on the day and publicly expressed his willingness to strengthen shortstop.
After the departure of Brandon Crawford, who was the starting shortstop for 13 years, the San Francisco Giants tried to give prospect Marco Luciano a chance. However, he showed signs of defense instability at exhibition games, and San Francisco replaced Nick Ahmed, a veteran player that it brought in on a minor contract. Ahmed was also released in July after poor batting, and Tyler Fitzgerald played as the starting shortstop.
Having played shortstop, center fielder, and second baseman, Fitzgerald displayed batting productivity in 96 games this year with a batting average of 280 (88 hits in 314 times at bat), 15 homers, 34 RBIs, and 17 steals, displaying better than expected. However, as a shortstop, his defense was weak at OAA-4, and Luciano showed unstable defense at second base, which is expected to change his position to the outfield. He needs a shortstop with good defense.
“Fitz-Gerald was also great as a shortstop, but he is valuable in many positions. During the season, he cannot play multiple positions at the same time. We are discussing whether it would be more appropriate to play at second base in the long run,” Posey said. In order to increase his hitting ability, second baseman who has less burden on defense than shortstop is better.
MLB.com said, “As Fitzgerald and Luciano seem to be more suitable for other positions, San Francisco is likely to recruit FA shortstop such as Willy Adames and Kim Ha-sung,” adding, “Kim Ha-sung has several connections with San Francisco. He played with center fielder Lee Jung-hoo in Korea, and played under coach Bob Melvin in San Diego.” 메이저놀이터
Kim Ha-sung has been with Lee Jung-hoo in the KBO League Kiwoom Heroes for four years from 2017 to 2020, developing into an indispensable senior and junior. Melvin was the main player when he was the coach of San Diego from 2022-2023. He has a unique relationship with Kim Ha-sung, so it is expected that he will adapt much faster if he goes to San Francisco.
This is why San Francisco has no choice but to focus on Kim Ha-sung in the current FA market, where there is no noticeable shortstop except for Adames. MLB.com explained, “Unlike Adames, Kim Ha-sung did not receive a qualifying offer, so San Francisco does not need to recruit him because he gave up his draft pick. It could be an important consideration for San Francisco, which lost two draft picks when it recruited Blake Snell and Matt Chapman last offseason.”
Recruitment of free agents is good, but considering the future of the team, the team should also keep its draft picks. Adames, who is expected to sign a large contract worth more than 100 million U.S. dollars, received a qualifying offer from his original team Milwaukee. Analysts say that it would be more reasonable for San Francisco to bring Kim Ha-sung than Adames, who costs much more to recruit and requires compensation for draft picks.
